Thread: Plasma cutter

I am thinking of buying a plasma cutter, a quick look at BOC and they have one for $900+ , on Ebay there are combination tig/plasma for around $400, Rossi brand.
Does anyone have any experience with this brand or some other similar? I want it mainly for thin sheet, I have a gas axe for heavier plate but it generally struggles with the thin stuff.
TIG with high frequency start is attractive but I can live without it.
Any advice appreciated.
clive

I'm not a big fan of BOC gear as the price is far higher than the quality of the product. $900 for a machine to handle thin sheet is getting way up there as I paid $750 for my 50A plasma and I know that others on this forum have bough off ebay for less than $400 I think and they were quite happy with their machines.
My plasma, from Magnum Welders has happily handled thicknesses up to 12mm for me and I have seen a piece of 16mm cut with the same machine. You will be better off with oxy above 6mm though in my opinion.
BOC are just another reseller of chinese gear for the most part and the big name means little.

I've got two WeldSmart (they are in WA) plasma cutters, a 50 and 60 amp models. The 50 amp has a pilot arc which is handy and cost around the $400 mark (maybe $450, can't quite remember).

The 50 has done a heap of work and has performed flawlessly. The 60 doesn't have a pilot arc and I don't tend to use it much.

Thanks for the info. The reason I was looking at BOC is I was thinking about after sales service if anything died within warranty. I have bought several welders from them and the last was a Chinese Smootharc, it really performs well but doesn't get much exercise as I tend to go to my flux core first, mainly laziness on myself part.

I finally took the plunge based on reviews and comments on this forum and got a combination plasma/tig machine from Tolkin Tools. The guy there was really good to deal with so I'm looking forward to next weeks delivery. Thanks

Originally Posted by clive hugh

I finally took the plunge based on reviews and comments on this forum and got a combination plasma/tig machine from Tolkin Tools. The guy there was really good to deal with so I'm looking forward to next weeks delivery. Thanks

Best of luck with the new beast. No doubt there will be a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it you'll never look back.

My current tigs are both scratch start which is a bit of a pain, trouble was Before I retired we had HF and was spoilt.

My Allusync 200 arrived yesterday, with great restraint for me I actually read the manual before I even touched the machine. I started putting it together this arvo but needed an air fitting and decided rather than go buy one I would machine one so I'm going to cobble it up out of two in the morning. I'll try it out and post how it goes.

Well I fired it up this afternoon, I'm making a plasma pattern cutting jig and tigged the parts together. Very smooth, it upsloped beautifully but I had set the downslope to half way which took a bit longer than I would like but no complaints at all. I'll set up the plasma on Monday, in fairness to the neighbours. If it performs as well as the tig it's going to be a worthwhile purchase.

Pictures or it didn't happen
I've got the original alusync model and it's been a great machine for tig, stick and plasma. My only complaint is that I hate swapping around the leads for the different operations as I tend to do a bit of each in every workshop session. Make sure you set up a dry air source for the plasma, otherwise you'll burn through tips pretty quickly.
- Mick

Here ya go Mick, I was going to use the plasma but my wfe reckons I'm too noisy so I'll leave it till Monday when everyones at work

Evidence noted.

Made this circle cutter for the plasma handpiece today. I machined it to fit with a couple of thou clearance, cut a split on one side. This was tapped 1/4 unc and clamps around the handpiece really easily. The bar is 1/4 squ, drilled it 1/4 then filed the squ. Got a nice sliding fit, next I'll tap it 3/16 for a locking grub screw.

Originally Posted by clive hugh

next I'll tap it 3/16 for a locking grub screw.

Or maybe fit it with a quick release camlock arrangement?
Cool to make your own tools
- Mick

The grub screw worked just fine, I have 8 circles to cut out and it's good to be able to put the torch down and pick it up in the morning and nothing has shifted, makes life easier.